Still Blogging (Haven Conference – Part 2)

So let’s get something out-of-the-way… I use the term “tomorrow” loosely. It’s not that I’m not highly motivate and capable, or even that I spread myself too thin, I think it’s mostly because I over think EVERYTHING. It’s the main reason I don’t post as often as I’d like to. I told you Monday night that I’d post the rest of my Haven Conference recap tomorrow, but I didn’t. That makes it like 20x harder to post my “late” post the next day. Which would have been yesterday… Anyway, just thought I’d try to explain…

Plus my kids attend Mommy Summer Camp, which means I entertain them 24-7, so I sneak in writing whenever I can. It’s not really an approach I’d recommend because it makes me so frazzled I feel like I’ve lost my mind.

I’m also a little hesitant to share this post because I don’t think it’s as funny as the first one and I feel like I’ve built you lovely people up only to let you down. But anyway…

My Haven Experience – Day 2

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but things got worse the second day. To sum it up… chicks are bitches. I heard story after story about rude interactions, like “bigger” bloggers being offended because someone lesser didn’t know what their blog was without asking. I’m not going to lie, I had a hard time matching faces to profile pictures. I’m sure I was hard to recognize as well (you know, to the 5 people there who had ever read my blog) because I wasn’t in my painting clothes with my hair tied up in a hot mess of a bun.

I was definitely running low on the sunshine and happiness today.

I hate to tell you, but lots of the people I talked to were devastated that their favorite blogger was actually someone they hated in person. Bummer. Luckily that didn’t happen to me. I was more amazed at how many blogs I had never heard of. You (and I) go around thinking we all read the same popular DIY blogs, but I was blown away at the wide range of differences in everyone’s favorite blogs. I had never heard of half the ones my new peeps were obsessed with and vice versa.

But on a positive note, I did see a rainbow today, and it came complete with a leprechaun by the name of Jon Acuff. Freaking amazing keynote speaker. I must live under a rock because I had never heard of Jon Acuff but he is like my new favorite person. He was very witty and engaging and made me feel better about the ridiculous number of domains I have registered with GoDaddy. I’m assuming his books are equally as good — I’m so advanced I might be able to skip his first one though — Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job. What day job??? I might just pick up with the later two Start and Do Over. He talked about 4 key components to building an awesome career — and I had 2 of them, so I’m halfway there — woohoo! I am oozing with character and I’ve got mad skills, wouldn’t you agree? I came to Haven to build relationships and find my hustle, so I was thinking I was exactly where I needed to be.

At the other end of the rainbow was Ana White. Thank goodness she wasn’t a blog idol letdown! Her session was a make-and-take, so she only got to speak for a few minutes, and then we made wooden trays. Ana had high praise for my tray, which I had wood burned and painted to look distressed. She was super approachable and very friendly and even took her phone out and started following me on Instagram while we stood there. That brings my grand total of Instagram followers up to 136. Can you guys help a girl out??? @smartgirlsdiy

The Highlights:

There were a few people there who actually knew and read Smart Girls DIY! Hot damn.

In one of the sessions I attended I learned that Facebook wasn’t dead! Thank goodness, that’s where I have my biggest fan base. I learned how to step up my Facebook game, so why don’t ya’ll (see that?) head on over to my FB page and Like It right now. Oh and leave a comment or two while you’re there! You rock!

I met Elisha from Pneumatic Addict briefly, and she doesn’t know it yet, but we’re going to be good blogging buds in the very near future. She is a rock star builder.

The session on going from Blog to Brand was a nice little kick in the butt for me. I kinda started to feel excited about going home to work on all the marketing stuff I have been ignoring.

On a related branding note — PureBond Plywood is going to make me famous. They don’t necessarily know it yet, but mark my words!

This is a good one – I was sitting all alone at lunch, at a big round table for 10 people, feeling like a complete tool, when I got a big fat dose of sunshine and happiness. Two foxy ladies came and sat with me and introduced themselves as Erin and Tricia. We had a nice conversation about everything but blogging. So who were these sweet ladies??? Turns out they were Suburban Bitches. You gotta love irony.

I ate enough tuna at the soiree that night that I didn’t have to buy dinner!

I was really bad at taking pictures, but I did get this one from Friday night. Looking good ladies! (Check out the pretty picture I DIYed of all of us in Part 1 of this post)

You can’t really tell, but I was the only one wearing jeans and it was because I got locked out of my hotel room. The damn lady at the desk wouldn’t give me a new key. Something about the room being in my husband’s name, blah, blah, blah… it was one of those times I thought it might have been a good idea to take his last name. Nah. So I slept on the street. No I didn’t. I rescued my key which was locked in someone else’s hotel room (not a guy hubby, don’t worry, it was in Deb’s room) and slept in my cozy hotel room all by myself.

Which reminds me — I was VERY excited to get some alone time and spend 3 nights in a hotel all by myself. Fifteen minutes after I got there I was calling the husband to tell him how lonely it felt. I guess it’s hard to turn the frazzle off.

Looking back on the day, it was okay, but for whatever reason I was completely bummed by the end of the night. I think it was the chicks are bitches thing. But maybe I was just bummed that I still hadn’t found my hustle. Maybe from the depression of not having a career? Maybe because my house is in complete turmoil? Who the heck knows?

Day 3

Even though I felt like I woke up on the snarky side of the bed Saturday morning, things were much better on Sunday. To my delight, the hotel had bottles of Naked Juice at the breakfast buffet. I downed one at breakfast and stuck another 4 in my purse. I don’t usually carry a big purse, so this was already my lucky day.

Here I am in front of a car at the a GMC booth.

Highlights:

Ana White – still awesome. She gave a tutorial on SketchUp (which I’ve been meaning to learn) and I was really impressed with how she responded to questions from the audience. She’s a smart girl too!

I enjoyed Lesley Clavijo‘s session on web design and left realizing I already knew a lot more than I give myself credit for. Now if only I would implement more of it. Sigh.

Zach from The Color Cord Company happen to sit down with my peeps and me at lunch. I have been wanting to replace the chandelier in my entrance way with one of their creations. I’ve had this pinned for about a year.

I spent the first two days talking up Lynda.com to my new blogging friends who wanted to learn more about this or that. (Lynda.com teaches you EVERYTHING computer and camera related!) So I felt very good about myself when at least two presenters on day 3 recommended Lynda.com in their sessions. Dude, I’m so smart.

I finally got a chance to hangout with Kim Six from The Kim Six Fix who was one of the only blogging friends I had prior to Haven. It was super cool to finally talk to her in person.

Mandi Gubler from Vintage Revivals (one of my all time favorite blogs!) gave the closing remarks and I am happy to report that she was not a disappointment!

It shouldn’t surprise you that my favorite part of the weekend was the dance party on Saturday night. Ok, maybe it should surprise you a little because dancing in public is a big anxiety trigger for me, but… I had 3 hard ciders so I was good to go. It was a lot of fun!

After seeing Brittany from Pretty Handy Girl (one of my blog crushes) in the bathroom twice — and rightfully feeling waaaaay too stupid to approach her in there — I finally got my chance at the dance party. And wait for it… she gave me a big hug. My only unsolicited hug I got all weekend. Finally!!

Bottom Line

I learned a lot at Haven. But more importantly I was inspired. I feel new energy toward my blog. A wee little bit of stress about making the 479 changes I need to do. But I think I might have gotten my hustle back. (Dude, I am so not an English major because I just had to look up gotten to see if it was really a word — yup — I’m good.)

So I am saying this out loud — I am going to go for it and treat blogging as my job. And make some money from it.

I am also going to try to write in shorter paragraphs.

Will I go back at the Haven Conference next year? Not sure. It’s fun to meet up new blogging peeps and will be fun to catch up with old ones, but I’m thinking I’d rather go on a bloggers yoga retreat/spa weekend, but I’m not sure that exists. Bummer. If I do go back to Haven, I’ll be sure to bring extra sunshine and happiness and hand out unsolicited hugs to all the newbies there. That would be fun.

There was a lot of talk about being real and authentic throughout the weekend, and Mandi nailed it when she said “own it.” So I’m owning my thoughts about Haven and trying to keep it real for y’all. 😉

Reader Interactions

Comments

I’m not really sure what you were searching for at the conference. I found your blog as I was search for information on redoing my stair case. I have a 150 year old farm house and it has been in constant remodeling for the past 15 years. With a house, barn, outbuilding and 100 acres not much gets done at one time.

My point is your blog hits exactly what I am doing in the DIY area. I would love to see more, yes I know it takes time but it is one of the better DIY blogs.

So while your searching for something I for one am going to say don’t change a thing and I would love to see some more of your projects.

Oh I am in my second week on the stairs rehab. First I found great hard pine under the carpet. I had to deal with some cutback that was used for a old runner, getting that lifted off safely took the most time. Then stripping 5 layers of paint off the risers consume a bunch of time. In any evetn I am ready for sanding aalong with getting the squeeks out. I only wished I took some photographs.

Thanks John! It’s great to hear from people who read my blog. It reminds me that I’m not just writing for myself. I figured there were other people in the midst of crazy rehab projects so it’s awesome to know you are out there!

I hear you about the pictures. I’m often kicking myself for forgetting to take them or not taking enough. Your stairs definitely sound like a labor of love but I’m sure they’ll look awesome when you’re finished.

I don’t plan on changing my blog content, just writing more often. Better pictures would be awesome too!! I am picky about the layout, colors, etc. and while I know what I’d like (and what I don’t like) I don’t always know how to make it happen in WordPress and it takes a while for me to figure out. Especially when I get frustrated and give up only to come back to the same issue a few weeks later.

I’ll “third” the sentiment expressed above. I check in frequently to your blog for a few reasons. You have great tutorials (inspired me to lay vinyl plan flooring in my basement), you promote just jumping in and doing things (confidence) and you have a great writing style. I love the details and attitude!

Wow, reading your post sounds like my experience! I walked in to the meet and greet, through the little garden area and right out the other door. I didn’t write about it, but I sat at a workshop table with two of my favorite bloggers and when they realized that the other girl and I were small time, they got up and moved to another table…for real. So from that point on, I just went to the sessions and focused on learning and not small talk. I love your honesty and if you go next year, we’ll need to hang out!

I’m so sorry your experience wasn’t all sunshiny either. But at the same time it’s nice to hear that I am not living in a vacuum. I really pushed myself to go up to a group of strangers right at the end of the meet and greet and they really had to talk me into going out to dinner with them… but they were all cool and it was so much better to have a group of people to hang out with.

I had a similar experience to your table one… I showed up more than 30 minutes early for Mandi’s closing remarks and a friend and I sat at an EMPTY table up front, but off to the side of the stage. Well Mandi and two friends ended up sitting there too, and while Mandi was very friendly, even said that Smart Girls DIY was a great name for a blog, everyone who sat down after that SAID NOT ONE WORD to us. It was all the event organizers. Not a hello, smile, nothing. I was determined to stand my ground and not let them make me feel stupid because we were sitting there first!!! And none of the tables were reserved fyi to anyone else reading this. Ugh.

Oh wow! This is the second blog post I read about a terrible experience with other bloggers. I’m sorry you had that experience. I didn’t meet you at Haven, but I totally remember your tray from the DIH workshop. It was really unique so it stood out. And I love Ana too! She was totally sweet and I am super happy I got a chance to speak with her.

I loved your write up! Going to my first blogging conference was a lot like a class reunion for me, I was overwhelmed with the faces / names / blogs and seeing my blog idols in real life. I walked around in a bit of a daze but came away really happy and movitated. This year I went with my husband and while I didn’t hang with the girls quite as much I had just as much fun. Next year, I might bring my daughter. To be honest, this was the first year (ever) that people recognized my blog name, and I found myself stammering each time people mentioned that they knew me and named a project. 😉 It was great to meet you and I’m glad you have things in perspective — keep blogging, girl!

Liz! I loved your posts! First, it was so great to meet you and I am so thankful that you are now one of my peeps! You were a breath of fresh air at the conference. I loved your honesty and your personality from the moment you walked up to our group. So glad you decided to come over. Thank you for all your support and advice. Thank you for being real and “owning” who you are! I am glad that you are going to keep blogging because you are officially my go to DIY girl now! Thanks for the shout out by the way! Can’t wait to keep in touch and see where this blog road leads us!
Laura Jo

How lovely, you met some interesting people in the conference, I am sure the blogging and online presence will help you build your business, good that your half way through to establish a great career girl. For me blogging is all about sharing content, views and gather others opinions, if I had a business it would definitely help promote my business as well. It is always nice to meet passionate bloggers, good day.